The young hero Jonny Quest (voiced by later Animal House star Tim Matheson) traveled the world with his father, Dr. Benton Quest; Roger "Race" Bannon, a friend and bodyguard of Dr. Quest; Hadji, Jonny's adopted brother from India, and Bandit, the family dog. (The first episode establishes that Jonny's mother, Rachel, died before the series began.)

A second Jonny Quest series was syndicated in 1986-87, with two new characters: Jessie Bradshaw, whose father was a colleague of Dr. Quest, and Hard Rock, a man made of living stone. This series culminated in two made-for-TV movies - Jonny's Golden Quest and Jonny Quest vs. the Cyber Insects - which introduced Race Bannon's daughter, Jessie (not the same character as Jessie Bradshaw).

Cartoon Network made some changes to the format when it debuted Jonny Quest the Real Adventures in 1996. New characters included Race's daughter Jessie (not the same as the non-canon Jessie above), the recurring villains Jeremiah Surd and Ezekiel Rage, and the twin daughters of Dr. Zin (who, of course, was from the original series). Also, the characters had access to Questworld, a virtual reality realm represented in most episodes by 3-D computer animation. According to this Wikipedia article, development began in 1992, but the series went through three production teams over the next four years.

A Live Action Adaptation of Jonny Quest was announced in August 2007, with Peter Segal directing Zac Efron as Jonny and The Rock as Race Bannon. In December 2013 Segal made it clear the project was far from dead, and that he was hoping to make it his next film; whether Efron and The Rock are still attached is unknown.

Never Smile At a Crocodile: Crocodiles tend to look as if they're smiling as they slide into the water in "The Quetong Missile Mystery" the two times boats are blown up (fresh meat!), or in "Treasure of the Temple" when the villains' boat is sunk.

Puppy Love: The 80's animated series had two movies Jonny's Golden Quest and Jonny Quest vs. The Cyber Insects both of which featured Race's daughter Jesse. She and Jonny appear to be about 10 to 12 years old. She kisses him in both movies.

Put Their Heads Together: "Terror Island". Race kicks a guard in the butt and causes his head to collide with that of another guard, knocking them both out.

Submarine Pirates: "Pirates from Below". They approach Dr. Quest's private island in a submarine and steal his submersible vehicle, the Underwater Prober. Later on when the Quest team escapes in the Prober the pirates attack in torpedo-firing one man subs.